The Spotlight on Wrestling Podcasts

The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts- The Lapsed Fan’s Starrcade Memorial Tour

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I touched on the lapsed fan podcast a few months back here on the site but I feel like they’re worth bringing up again.  I first discovered the Lapsed Fan Wrestling Podcast almost one year ago and when I did, they were on their journey through all 30 Wrestlemanias.  Every week they would review one Wrestlemania at a time beginning with Wrestlemania 1 and all the way up to and including Wrestlemania 31 (which they did a live show immediately following Wrestlemania).  Each week they would start with their favorite moments from the show and then they would welcome in Dave Meltzer for a really unique historical perspective.  Once Meltzer was finished, they would then start their trademark “Deep Dive”  and go through each Wrestlemania from start to finish in grave detail.  The result was a podcast that lasted anywhere from 4 hours in length to, in the case of Wrestlemania 17, over 7 hours long.  People would talk about how perhaps the podcast was too long but I loved it because they paid careful attention to everything from every midcard superstar to every vignette, the lapsed fan had you covered.  I remember listening to the Wrestlemania podcasts all week long on the way to and from work and they left me both engaged and nostalgic going through each one.

Following the Wrestlemania journey, the Lapsed Fan podcast started doing listener request shows where, for a small fee, a member of the “lapsed fan solar system” would get to choose a show for Jack and JP to review.  On top of that the person who chose the show got to come onto the show and discuss the ways in which this show had effected them.  By now, you’ve read my personal stories regarding meeting certain wrestlers or having different live experiences at a variety of shows, so I really appreciate hearing different fans talk about their favorite experiences at shows.  The most recent listener request show they put up on Summerslam 1999 features a great personal story from show producer TJ DeSantis that is worth going out of your way to listen.  I had meant to getting around to donating to the lapsed fan and requesting that they review either Summerslam 2007 or Royal Rumble 2008 just because those two shows have my own personal stories that I feel are interesting but it appears that the listener request series is at least on a hiatus because…

Just a few weeks ago, the Lapsed Fan announced that Jack & JP are going on another journey, this time through all of the different WCW Starcade events through the years.  This is going to be a 17 week journey spanning from the original Starcade event in 1983 all the way through the end of WCW in 2000 (they’ve already done Starcade 1985 as a tribute to Dusty Rhodes right after he passed).  This is reay cool for someone like me because I’ve never actually seen any of the Starrcade events other than 1997.  The reason for that is because I’ve always been a big WWE fan growing up and never watched any of WCW.  My family tried to order Bash at the Beach 1994 to see Hogan and my father was unimpressed with the entire show.  Due to this, I never once asked to ever order a WCW show until Starrcade 1997, and I only pushed that because of Bret Hart.  Now with the WWE Network, I can go back and watch each one  of these events as the Lapsed Fan breaks them down, which is awesome as a new fan.  Starrcade was obviously the WCW’s version of Wrestlemania, and the original as it started 2 years prior to Mania, and is more than worthy of getting that journey treatment.  Jack and JP started their Starrcade memorial tour yesterday with the debut of Starrcade 1983.  As an added bonus, Dave Meltzer is in fact back to give that historical perspective of each one of the Starrcade events.  It’s especially cool with Starrcade because WCW is out of business so, as Jack and JP have mentioned before, they can really tell the entire story of WCW through their history of Starrcade series.

Jack and JP have made it clear that, unlike the Wrestlemania series, this may not take place every single week.  I’m glad to hear this actually as Jack and JP both have families and I’m sure that Wrestlemania series (30 episodes in 30 weeks at about 5 hours a week) had to be quite the burden on both them and their families.  The lapsed fan is also now independently owned and operated as the guys are no longer affliated with Wrestlezone.  If you’d like to support thelapsedfan podcast you can follow them on twitter @TheLapsedFan to find out how you could.  I’m excited for the new Starrcade journey to begin and would love to hear your feedback on the lapsed fan if you’ve checked it out as well.

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The Spotlight On The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond 

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , ,

  Tomorrow is a big day for wrestling podcast listeners around the world with the debut of The TAZ Show on CBS Radio’s Play.It. The show will be the first podcast hosted by a former pro wrestler to air five days a week at 10AM EST. What’s really cool about the show is that it’s also going to air live from 7-9AM and will feature live call ins. 

I’m really excited for this show as I’ve always thought it would really cool to have a morning show focusing on all things wrestling. I also think that Taz is the perfect guy for the job.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again when Taz first launched his podcast I had a bit of hesitation. There are so many wrestling podcasts out there and already a good amount hosted by wrestlers that I thought this one, honestly, would get lost in the shuffle. That said, I decided to try out Taz’s Human Poscast Machine and I couldn’t  have been more happy to be so wrong. First off, Taz is histerical and the banter between he and producer, Seth, is off the charts funny. But the thing about Taz that can’t go unmentioned is that he is both knowledgeable and reputable. When Taz has an opinion you listen because he’s made so many sacrifices in the pro wrestling business, including breaking his neck, and Taz is also so honest. It’s obvious that Taz has respect for everyone in the wrestling business but also doesn’t hold back how he feels in fear of offending a wrestler or company.  

Thus, im really excited for Taz’s new daily show and not only for the wrestling talk but also for the “Beyond” portion of the show. Taz is very knowledgeable in the world of sports & has numerous other interests so it’ll be great to hear him talk about those as well. Taz has also promised that both Jim Ross & Mike Tenay will have weekly spots on his show, which is great. Taz and Tenay have done some really good countdown episodes on a number of wrestling topics so I’m interested to see if he’ll incorporate that. Taz also said that the show will be streamed via video as well, which is unique, but that won’t start right at first. The best part of Taz’ new show is that it’ll be available on demand at 10 AM every day. This way you can listen to Taz’s show anytime in its entirety and it’ll be there when you need it. The biggest problem with wrestling podcasts, for me, is that they generally aren’t the most consistent as to when they’re posted. This is different, it’s Internet radio by CBS so you know they’re good for what they’re advertising. 

Well that’s going to do it for me but make sure you check out the Taz show airing Monday-Friday from 7AM-9AM and available on demand each day at 10AM. If you do check it out, Id love to hear what you thought. 

The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts- Colt Cabana’s Art Of Wrestling Pt. 1

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s spotlight on wrestling podcasts.  This week’s entry is going to be a 2 parter because it’s going to be This week’s spotlight is actually going to be two pronged. I’m going to get into the Kevin Owens interview from this past week’s Art of Wrestling tomorrow but first I wanted to get into a bit of my admiration for the Art Of Wrestling as this past week marked the 5 year anniversary of the show.

Over the past two years, wrestling podcasts have really exploded on the scene with the help of podcastone hosting weekly podcasts hosted by some of the all time greats in the wrestling industry.  Everyone from Chris Jericho to Stone Cold Steve Austin, to Jim Ross to the late great Roddy Piper hosts their own show.  I can say that I enjoy all of these podcasts to some extent as they usually provide us with a candid conversation with two personalities in the wrestling business while also giving us insight into the everyday life of these legends.  Well, before any of there was ever a podastone, there was Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling.
I’ve always been a fan of Colt Cabana.  Back in 2006, my friends started to beg me to join them for a Ring of Honor show and I decided to take them up on it.  From the start of the show I noticed that there were some names I knew from local shows I used to attend in the northeast a few years earlier.  Names like Low Ki, Xavier, Samoa Joe and the Briscoe Brothers were staples on this show and used to be a part of every independent show in the New York area post ECW era.   From there, there were a host of unbelievably talented technical wrestlers from around the world that were doing things in the ring that I had never seen done before,  Wrestlers like Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuiness, Kenta and Takeshi Morishima were impressing the crowd throughout the night.  That said, there was one wrestler in particular, however, who stood out to me over the others was Colt Cabana.
With his bright colors, his Barry Manilow theme song, and one of his signature moves (the flying asshole), Colt was able to differentiate himself from the rest of the Ring of Honor roster.  With his blend of comedy and wrestling, Colt was able to carve out a unique niche on the, often too serious, ROH live events.  The other thing about Colt was that aside from being hilarious, he was also really good in the ring.  Before long, Colt caught the eye of WWE and was signed to a developmental deal in 2007.  I went out of my way to see one of Colt’s final Ring of Honor shows and told him what an inspiration he was to me (an aspiring pro wrestler at the time).  Colt was one of the nicest people I had met and I knew he was going to be a success in WWE.
Well for whatever reason this didn’t happen,  Instead, Colt was given the character of Scotty Goldman who was a character with not much depth and after only a handful of matches, was released from his WWE contract. Just two years later, I was there live at the Hammerstein Ballroom to see Colt return to Ring of Honor at their 7 year anniversary show.  While I was thrilled to see Colt back in Ring of Honor, as I’d get to see him every month, I was genuinely sad to see that Colt’s time in WWE ended so abruptly.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2011, I’m now dating a girl who lived in southern New Jersey which was an hour and a half away from where I lived in Queens, New York (this is without traffic, with traffic it was as much as 3 + hours away).  Hell bent on making this relationship work, in spite of our distance, I would travel every weekend to New Jersey and, sometimes, as many as 3 other days per week.  These drives were long, they were expensive, they were frustrating and (having such an old car with limited air conidtioning) the rides were also very hot.  Now, I should point out that I’m not a big music guy while driving.  I love music and go out of my way to discover new music of all varieties all the time, but as far as drving while listening to top 40 radio? That really isn’t for me.  I much prefer to listen to sports talk or, of course, wrestling talk.  At the time, I used to listen to a lot of the stuff on pwinsider and one day I saw that Mike Johnson had an interview up with Colt Cabana.  Interested to hear what Colt was up to, i downloaded the show.
On this hour long interview, Colt spoke about this new project he had been working on for about 9 months called the Art of Wrestling Podcast.  Immediately intrigued, I signed on to coltcabana.com and started listening to all of the episodes.  I was immediately hooked at Colt’s Do It Yourself podcast.  It was truly remarkable insight into the world of independent wrestling as Colt would detail all of his adventures and also talk to a different personality each week. What I found so inspiring about the podcast was how positive Colt was.  He would often talk about the happy bus, and discuss the importance of not getting down on yourself.  Here was a guy who lost his dream job just a year earlier, after not really getting a fair shake, and rather then getting upset about it, Colt went continued to build his brand on his own.  As for the guests, I started with the familiar names, guys like CM Punk and Curt Hawkins but I found Colt so enjoyable, that I started listening to all of his other episodes with guests I hadn’t heard of.  The podcast became a great vehicle for independent wrestlers to promote themselves and for fans to understand the beauty of the independent wrestling world.
Before long, I went from being a Colt Cabana fan to an absolute fanatic.  I started to proudly wear my Colt Cabana Jewish Star shirt everywhere, I listened to every podcast in the art of wrestling podcast archives while often singing along with Colt’s open (Live from the studio…apartment in Chicago, Illinois!).  I even had a pretty good conversation with Daniel Bryan about Colt’s documentary, the wrestling road diaries, when I met Bryan at Wrestlemania axxess in 2011. I suddenly almost looked forward to my drive to New Jersey as it gave a reason to listen to some more of Colt, and sure seeing the girl at the end of the drive wasn’t so bad either.  Of course, later in 2011, Colt Cabana’s podcast really blew up (I feel in 2011 it was all about CM Punk, Zack Ryder, and Colt Cabana) when CM Punk uttered those famous words of “Hey Colt Cabana, how ya doing?” during his famous pipe bomb promo.  Colt’s podcast gained popularity once again late last year when CM Punk was his guest on the show on Thanksgiving day, his first appearance since leaving WWE.  That particular podcast was so shocking that my current girlfriend and I spent all of Thanksgiving weekend listening to it.
So yes, it’s great to see so many different types of wrestling podcasts to listen to every week but for me the originator of the wrestling podcast and the man who launched this whole industry is Colt Cabana.  Tomorrow, I will continue this look at Colt’s podcast by taking a look at his 5th anniversary special from last week, including a really eye opening interview with Kevin Owens that everyone should go out of your way to listen to.  Until then, thankssss!

The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts- The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast with Daniel Bryan 

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , ,

  
Hello everyone and thank you for checking out this week’s spotlight on wrestling podcasts where today we’ll take a look at a podcast that actually aired this morning and I was able to listen to it on the way to work, Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast with Daniel Bryan. I was going to hold this off until I finished Bryan’s book and release the review during my planned Daniel Bryan weekend (8/7-8/9) but I figured since it was timely and topical, I would release it today. The past week has actually been pretty tough to be a wrestling fan with all of the awful comments made by Hulk Hogan being released, as Hogan was one of the faces of WWE history. Well, over the past week, one of the few bright spots has been that Daniel Bryan has been making the rounds across media outlets around the world to promote the release of his new book, which was released just last Tuesday. Bryan has a likability to him that can’t be taught and I’ve gone out of my way to listen to a number of his appearances from Cheap Heat to Boomer and Carton in the morning to Busted Open Radio on sirius xm radio. Thus, this morning, i was really happy to see Daniel Bryan’s name pop up on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast. I’ve been a fan of Sam’s podcast since it started, subscribing on itunes along the way. I like Sam’s podcast because he seems like a true fan and often has some cool stories during his “state of wrestling” portion of the program including different wrestling road trips he takes. While Sam is a fan, he’s able to get pretty big names on his podcast and manages to have a good rapport with his guests while not shying away from the “hard-hitting” questions. Let’s get into some of the highlights from the show. 
 Highlights:

  

Daniel Bryan’s Plans for the Intercontinental Title: For me one of the big things i got out of the podcast was hearing that Bryan actually wanted the intercontinental title for quite some time. His plan for the title was that it would be defended every week but it would only be defended on smackdown and pay per views. His idea was that it would give people a reason to tune into Smackdown and give the intercontinental title the profile that it deserves. He went on to say that he much preferred the brand split, feeling that if it wasn’t for the two separate world titles, he would have never had the chance to be world champion. Bryan also went on to state that he felt that the separate brands really do a good job in allowing guys to be featured that may otherwise get lost in the shuffle despite their talent such a Cesaro and Heath Slater.  

  

The Future For Daniel Bryan: Bryan was very honest during this interview, flat out saying that he had a concussion and while he’s been cleared by his own doctor, he’s waiting on WWE’s doctors to clear him. Sam asked a good question to Bryan in asking if he planned on wrestling until he could no longer do so. Bryan responded that Brie’s plan has always been to have her first child by the age of 32-33 (she’s 31 now) and that he expects that she will likely be ready to have the couple’s first child when her contract with WWE is up. Bryan went on to say that he’s ready to be a father and, while he didn’t say that he was going to stop wrestling once he became a father, he did note that when Ted Dibiase Jr had a child, he continued on the road and Bryan noticed how miserable Ted looked. Sam and Bryan then both agreed that it becomes harder to deal with some of the hardships associated with being a wrestler (the travel, the politics, etc) when you know you can be at home being a father.    

The Summerslam Match that never was?– One of the things that I found pretty interesting was when Bryan talked about his Summerslam 2012 match that was set up between he and Charlie Sheen. He explained how at the time Bryan was a heel but he was getting cheered against everyone other than CM Punk, who he had already wrestled a few times. Thus, WWE didn’t really know what else to do with Bryan as a heel. He went on to explain that he wanted the match to happen so bad because he felt that if it happened the idea was for Bryan to be the heel and for Sheen to be the face but Bryan had no doubt that Sheen was going to be booed out of the building had the match happened. Of course, from all of this, we got Team Hell No, so it wasn’t all a waste,  

Closing Thoughts:

  

In the end, I really enjoyed this interview. I felt Sam did a good job in really going out of his way not to ask the same questions that everyone else did about Bryan’s book (even citing an article out there listing 10 things learned from Bryan’s book and then asking questions based only off of those 10 things because they really didn’t know too much about Bryan or WWE). Other topics covered in the over 30 minute interview included Bryan’s thoughts on his time in the original NXT, the struggles of avoiding overexposure when you’re featured on 12 segments in one week of television, why he feels that WWE doesn’t view him as marketable even to this day and whether or not he and Sheamus will ever get their WrestleMania match. The main thing I noticed form this discussion, and other appearance from Bryan throughout the week, is just how positive Bryan is despite the tough times he’s gone through over the past couple of years. 

If you’re interested in hearing Daniel Bryan’s full appearance on the Sam Robert’s Wrestling Podcast, as well as Sam’s past podcasts, you can do so by clicking here http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sam-roberts-wrestling-podcast . I’d love to know your thoughts on the show and as always some of your wrestling podcast suggestions for me to review right here. Until next time, take care.   

The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts- Wrestling Observer Live 

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and welcome to the this weeks edition of The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts where we look at different wrestling podcasts you may have never heard of , you may be overlooking or maybe an episode of a wrestling podcast you should go out of your way to listen to. This week on the docket I’m going to talk to you about Wrestling Observer Live. Hosted by F4Wonline.com’s Bryan Alvarez & Mike Sempervive, Wrestling Observer Live airs Sunday thru Friday across the sports byline USA networks as well on Sirius Satellite Radio. Without any further ado lets get into some of the highlights of the show.

Highlights

1) Daily Wrestling Radio- As a lifelong wrestling fan I’ve always dreamed of a time where I could head home after a long day of work and turn on the radio to hear some wrestling radio. Well one of things I love about WOL is that it airs Monday thru Friday at 3PM EST. The show is also easy to find replays of either on F4WOnline.com or by finding a replay schedule on sports byline USA’s website. I personally love to listen to WOL on the way home from work as its a great source to find out all of the up to the minute news in a concise fashion.   Being that it’s only an hour each day, It’s the perfect way to get my fill of all of the wrestling and MMA news of the day quickly. Also don’t forget about the Sunday show, which airs at 6PM EST for two hours each week. The 2 hours on Sunday allow for the show to really go in any direction and it’s often my favorite show of the week. In particular, these two hour shows often end up making for a great pre show to the pay per view on Sundays when there’s one. For an example, just last night they did their own commentary to the Meta Powers/Ascension pre show tag match prior to the payback show.

2) The Hosts- Bryan & MIke are both incredibly knowledgable in both wrestling and MMA. Bryan Alarez in particular not only has been covering the world of pro wrestling for over 20 years but used to wrestle in his own right. This, to me sets him apart from other wrestling journalists because he can offer that in ring perspective, and that’s meant as more praise for Bryan than a knock on anyone else. That said, while the guys will offer there opinion in an entertaining fashion, you know that the insight you hear on Wrestling Observer Live can be trusted.

3) The Guests–  One of the real highlights of Wrestling Observer Live is that you never know who’s going to show up for a guest appearance on the show.  Anyone from Chris Jericho to Rey Mysterio to Ethan Carter III has been on WOL recently and this really makes the show can’t miss.  Guests are usually on the show on Tuesdays and Thursdays and what’s cool is that if you subscribe to f4wonline.com then you can usually catch a longer interview with Bryan and the guests, though the free interviews on Observer Live are also great listens.  What’s great about the guests is that they are usually timely so that when a guest is on they’re also their to promote something that may otherwise go unnoticed by the wrestling fan.  For example, last week JTG was on to promote his book “Damn Why Did I Write This Book?”  which I knew nothing about prior to Observer Live but picked it up after his appearance and found it quite enjoyable.  Other appearances included Court Bauer & Wale prior to Walemania as a part of Wrestlemania week as well as Jay Briscoe prior to a Ring of Honor pay per view.

Closing Thoughts

I think Wrestling Observer Live is definitely worth going out of your way to listen to.  While the hosts may be critical, I feel that they come off fair as opposed to many in the wrestling media that are often negative for the sake of being negative.  I also feel that the guys do a great job in mixing in some mixed martial arts chatter, but not enough to overwhelm the wrestling fan listening.  If anything Wrestling Observer Live and the coverage that they do on MMA makes me more of a fan of UFC and keeps me up to date on important issues going in the sport. That said, on shows where a big wrestling show is coming up, you will rarely hear any MMA talk on the show and vice versa on the shows prior to a big UFC show so it’s a good mix.  In closing one other really cool thing about WOL is that because it’s also a radio show, fans are given the opportunity to call in towards the end of the show provided that they stay on topic. The phone lines remain open a good amount longer on the Sunday shows where really nothing is off limits.   Thus, go out and listen to wrestling observer live which you can find streaming live here  http://sportsbyline.com/wrestling-observer-live/ or you can subscribe to the wrestling observer website at f4wonline.com.  If you check out the show I would love to hear some of your feedback and if you have any other suggestions for future editions of the spotlight on wrestling podcasts feel free to leave those as well as I’m always looking for more content.

If you didn’t get a chance you can check out my spotlight on wrestling podcasts from last week which focused on the Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast and you can view that right here https://thedailyspotlight.com/2015/05/09/the-spotlight-on-wrestling-podcasts-the-lapsed-fan/.  Thanks for all of your support, now go listen to some podcasts!